Delaware, Ohio – The Oberlin College men's basketball team fought hard, but in the end the seventh-ranked Bishops of Ohio Wesleyan University proved to be too strong as they topped the Yeomen, 81-69, on Wednesday night at Branch Rickey Arena.
Scott Miller had a career night off the Yeomen bench, scoring 15 of his career-high 20 points in the second half as he dialed in on five 3-pointers. Senior center
Randy Ollie added 16 points and seven boards, while
Jack Poyle finished with 13 points, all of which came in the first half. Earning the start in place of the injured
Nathan Cohen, freshman
Eli Silverman-Lloyd chipped in with 10 points.
The loss snapped the Yeomen's three-game winning streak and dropped their record to 9-7 overall and 4-5 in the NCAC. The Bishops moved to 15-1 and 8-1 in the league.
The Yeomen opened the game on an 8-0 run and led for the first nine minutes of the contest. A scoop shot in the lane from
Nile Godfrey put the Yeomen out in front 17-13 and
Zach Meyers' 3-ball at the 9:38 mark made it a 22-18 Oberlin advantage.
However, the Bishops came storming back, using an 18-2 run over the next five-and-half minutes to open up a 36-24 lead of their own. The Yeomen chipped away to get back within six, but ultimately headed into the locker room facing an 11-point deficit at 45-34.
In the second half the Yeomen battled and tried to work their way back in the game, but could not sustain any long runs as the Bishops answered nearly every Yeomen make with a bucket of their own.
Oberlin would get within nine on multiple occasions with the last occurrence coming with 7:34 to go on a pair of Silverman-Lloyd free throws. The Bishops quickly pushed the lead back out to 16, 72-56, and would have a double-digit advantage the rest of the way.
The Bishops' Seth Clark was one of three starters in double figures and led all scorers with 21 points. As a team, OWU hoisted 40 3-point attempts – making 13 for a 32.5-percent success rate. In total they were 29-of-66 for a 43.9-percent clip.
Oberlin shot 47.2-percent, hitting 25-of-53 attempts, which included a 10-of-26 effort (38.5%) from beyond the arc. However, the Yeomen were hindered by 20 turnovers that turned into 26 points for the Bishops.
The Yeomen will be back on the road on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Wabash College for a 3 p.m. battle.
